Kevin Cooper

At times during Saturday night's game, No. 5 Johns Hopkins elected to defend No. 10 Maryland by poling two of the three starting midfielders in senior Drew Snider and junior John Haus. The intent was to force redshirt sophomore midfielder Mike Chanenchuk and junior attackman Billy Gribbin to dodge and initiate the offense. The Terps countered by replacing Gribbin with junior Kevin Cooper, and the move worked as he recorded a season-high two goals and added an assist in a 9-6 victory over the Blue Jays at Homewood Field in Baltimore.

Wednesday's entry is the fifth in a series taking a look at each of the seven Division I programs in this state according to their order of finish from last season. The Sun's lacrosse preview will be published on Friday, Feb. 7. This is Maryland's turn. Overview: The Terps enjoyed what would be considered a successful regular season in many circles, with 10 wins for the first time since 2007 and the program's first Atlantic Coast Conference title since 2004. But the No. 1 seed fell to No. 4 seed Virginia in the league tournament, and the downward spiral continued until a loss to Cornell in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Watching Kevin Cooper play attack wasn't surprising considering that the Maryland senior had done it occasionally towards the end of last season. Watching him perform as well as he did in the No. 3 Terps' 23-6 thrashing of Mount St. Mary's Tuesday night may have been. Cooper led all scorers with six points on three goals and three assists and appeared to mesh nicely with fellow seniors and starters Owen Blye and Billy Gribbin. Cooper had been a mainstay on the second midfield last year, but said he enjoys both spots.

The Chesapeake Bayhawks selected midfielder Cameron Holding (Grand Valley State) second overall in the Major League Lacrosse supplemental draft Wednesday afternoon. The Bayhawks received the pick, as well as the 28th overall selection, in a trade immediately before the draft. As part of the multi-team deal, the Bayhawks sent midfielder Kevin Cooper (Archbishop Spalding, Maryland) and faceoff specialist Matt Dolente (Johns Hopkins) to the New York Lizards; also, All-Star defenseman Kyle Hartzell (Salisbury, CCBC-Essex)

The parents of a 14-year-old boy who was fatally shot by a police officer in his Southwest Baltimore house last year filed a $25 million wrongful death lawsuit yesterday against the officer. Relatives of Kevin Cooper, who was shot Aug. 12, contend that a city police officer antagonized the boy and provoked a fight that ended in violence. The officer who fired his gun, Roderick Mitter, had been on the force about one year and had just completed his probationary period. The suit seeks $15 million in punitive and $10 million in compensatory damages.

Maryland coach John Tillman did not hide his displeasure over Kevin Cooper's role in an on-field fracas with North Carolina redshirt sophomore midfielder Greg McBride in the fourth quarter of the Terps' eventual 11-10 loss on March 24. The fisticuffs resulted in one-game suspensions for both players. But Tillman also praised the junior midfielder for his attitude in the aftermath of the scuffle. “How he's responded has been very positive,” Tillman said Tuesday. “The apologies to [Tar Heels]

Owen Blye grew up playing attack in Chester Springs, Pa., but he quickly became familiar with a certain defenseman named Tucker Durkin who grew up about 40 miles away in Huntingdon Valley, Pa. Blye committed to Maryland and Durkin made his way to Johns Hopkins and this Saturday at Byrd Stadium in College Park, the pair will meet again as opponents. “I actually played against him sometimes in our summer league,” Blye, a fifth-year senior, recalled Tuesday afternoon. “He's a great defenseman, and obviously they have a lot of confidence in him. He's a big, physical guy, and he's done really well over there.

The production-by-committee approach that worked so well in the first half for the Maryland men's lacrosse team evolved into a one-man show in the second half. Senior attackman Joe Cummings scored two goals and assisted on another in the third quarter to help the No. 8 Terps pull away from host Georgetown and cruise to a 16-11 victory Friday night at Multi-Sport Field . Cummings, who finished with a career-best five points on three goals and two assists, played a significant role in the third quarter during which he had a hand in three of the team's four goals in that period.

The weekend killing of a 14-year-old boy by a Baltimore police officer is reviving a controversial issue for the department: When is the right time to use deadly force to stop aggressive suspects? As investigators probe the fatal shooting of Kevin Cooper inside his home Saturday morning, his family's lawyer challenges the officer's account, saying that the boy's behavior did not warrant such a violent reaction. But experts who train officers cautioned that these kinds of volatile domestic situations require split-second decisions by officers worried about the safety of bystanders as well as their own. Options like blinding Mace, disabling batons and Taser stun guns can be employed effectively to force many suspects into compliance.

Yale won the first meeting in 1925. Since then, however, the series has been dominated by Maryland, which has captured the last nine contests - including the last five in College Park. The No. 14 Bulldogs (8-3) are enjoying a five-game winning streak during which they've won two in overtime and one by two goals. Senior attackman Kirby Zdrill entered the week leading Division I in shooting percentage (61.8 percent) and is third on the team in goals (22). The No. 6 Terps (8-2) have cooled off since beginning the season with six consecutive wins, splitting their last four contests.

Horses Maryland State Fair racing begins Friday, runs 10 days The Maryland State Fair in Timonium - the only state fair east of the Mississippi River with a sanctioned 10-day thoroughbred meeting - will host live racing beginning Friday at 1:05 p.m. and ending Labor Day. During that run, only Tuesday will be dark. This year's meeting has grown from seven to 10 days after the Maryland Horsemen's Association contributed money to subsidize added programs. Purses also have increased.

Rookie attackman Kevin Cooper made an impressive professional debut, totaling four points on three goals and an assist to help the Chesapeake Bayhawks pull out a 13-12 victory over the Ohio Machine at Selby Stadium. Cooper, a recent Maryland graduate from Archbishop Spalding, provided an offensive lift, scoring goals in the first, third and fourth quarters. Cooper netted his final goal during a 4-0 run that gave the Bayhawks a 13-10 lead with 7:21 left in the fourth quarter. "Kevin has been playing very well in practice, and [offensive coordinator]

Here is the second installment of our premature poll for next season. The Top 20 will be broken up into four installments, with Friday's post involving teams ranked from Nos. 15 to 11. Thursday featured Nos. 20 to 16. Monday will highlight teams ranked Nos. 10 to 6 and Tuesday Nos. 5 to 1. Wednesday will include three schools not mentioned in the poll that could make some waves. Unless there are confirmed reports about certain players planning to use fifth years of eligibility, this space will assume that seniors in 2013 will not return next year.

Maryland owns a commanding 13-2 advantage in this series and has won the last eight meetings. But the two teams have not played since March 18, 2000, and Cornell is 2-1 against the Terps in the NCAA tournament. The Big Red (12-3) have lost all three contests by one goal each, but a setback to then-No. 12 Princeton in the semifinals of the Ivy League tournament on May 3 cost the team one of the NCAA tournament's eight seeds and a home game in the first round. But that does not hide the fact that 2011 Tewaaraton Award finalist Rob Pannell (36 goals and 44 assists)

The Maryland men's lacrosse team didn't doubt that it belonged in the NCAA tournament. What was in question was whether the Terps had done enough to warrant one of the tournament's eight seeds and a home game in the first round next weekend. No. 11 Maryland responded with a convincing affirmative, beating Colgate, 18-6, before an announced crowd of 1,949 at Byrd Stadium here Saturday. The Terps wrapped up the regular season with a 10-3 record and snapped a two-game skid to the Raiders.

A little over a month ago, the Maryland men's lacrosse team had the most high-powered offense in the country, a perfect record and the No. 1 ranking. But a strength has turned into their major weakness, and as the Terps prepare to welcome No. 14 Yale to Byrd Stadium in College Park on Saturday, they have been questioning everything about their floundering attack. After averaging 15 goals in its first six contests, Maryland is averaging 8.0 goals and has reached double digits in just one of its past four games.

The Maryland men's lacrosse team didn't doubt that it belonged in the NCAA tournament. What was in question was whether the Terps had done enough to warrant one of the tournament's eight seeds and a home game in the first round next weekend. No. 11 Maryland responded with a convincing affirmative, beating Colgate, 18-6, before an announced crowd of 1,949 at Byrd Stadium here Saturday. The Terps wrapped up the regular season with a 10-3 record and snapped a two-game skid to the Raiders.

Owen Blye grew up playing attack in Chester Springs, Pa., but he quickly became familiar with a certain defenseman named Tucker Durkin who grew up about 40 miles away in Huntingdon Valley, Pa. Blye committed to Maryland and Durkin made his way to Johns Hopkins and this Saturday at Byrd Stadium in College Park, the pair will meet again as opponents. “I actually played against him sometimes in our summer league,” Blye, a fifth-year senior, recalled Tuesday afternoon. “He's a great defenseman, and obviously they have a lot of confidence in him. He's a big, physical guy, and he's done really well over there.